Playback of video content, whether streamed or downloaded, has become ubiquitous.
It has become common to place additional static or dynamic graphical elements over displayed video content, such additional elements being referred to as an “overlay”. Overlays are often positioned along the bottom of an image frame and may present advertising or other information, such as subtitling or timely alerts, whether or not related to the content.
For illustration, while viewing a web-based streaming video, an overlay is often positioned along the bottom of the video frame, and displays advertising for goods or services intended to be relevant to the video viewer. Often, such an overlay is shown throughout the video playback or may be shown through part of it until the viewer clicks a checkbox indicating a desire for the overlay to close.
Particularly in the context of online advertising, it is often desirable for overlays to provide content relevant to the user. However, without manual intervention, appropriate selection is problematic.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide automated overlay insertion in which the above disadvantages are obviated or mitigated and attainment of appropriate overlay selection is facilitated.